Saudi Actor and Artist Hisham Fageeh says loving the creative process will make you feel happy.

Should you stick to one passion? Actually, sometimes it is helpful to divide your attention in order to recharge your batteries.Hisham Fageeh is a Saudi actor, producer and artist. His professional accomplishments include the acclaimed initiative to send an independent movie to the Oscars for the Best Foreign Film.Hisham Fageeh developed his skills as a stand-up comedian, Head of Content and TV show producer. As he invests a lot of passion into his endeavors, he often feels the need to switch from one activity to another.'Wearing those hats gives me a chance to breathe, gives me a chance to sort of contain myself and compose myself and recharge my batteries.' Hisham Fageeh mentions that the world of production is a demanding one.He says that he enjoys the process of creating something. As he focuses on one of his passions at a time, he always feels inspired and the details keep fascinating him.Do you want to express all of your passions? Check this and remember to share it with your friends and spread the passion.Live PassionatelyMoustafa HamwiPassionpreneur & Chief Energy OfficerAward Winning Author & Speaker

TRANSCRIPT:

Moustafa: Hello everyone and welcome back to Passion Sundays, the best way to end a week and start another. Our guest today is a phenomenally passionate Saudi actor, producer and a full-fledged artist – Hisham Fageeh. Thank you very much!Hisham: Thank you very much for having me!Moustafa: I'm very excited! There are so many things that I could talk to you about. So tell me first about your first, the 'Barakah'.Hisham: Yeah, so 'Barakah' was this year's submission to the Oscars for Best Foreign Film for Saudi Arabia. It didn't make it all the way but I was happy to have that honor. This is like the first feature film out of my city – Jeddah, which you are familiar with. And it was an independent, humble sort of initiative that has got a lot of critical acclaim and I'm really excited.Moustafa: Awesome! And where did you come up with that idea?Hisham: Well, it was written by somebody else but we essentially, we were a small team that just worked together to make everything happy so naturally in Saudi Arabia is you write something that you wanna do, you end up producing it, you end up acting it. You know it’s just this compounding thing.Moustafa: Is that because of lack of resources?Hisham: Yeah. One hundred percent, we lack human resources, to be specific. Money is easy to come across in my country and that's a good thing to have. But people that are passionate, to bring it back to your topic.Moustafa: How did you find passion for what you're doing?Hisham: I just, I'm a consumer of comedy and films, I've loved it. It just triggers the chemicals in my brain differently. So I think I wanted to participate in it. At first I was consuming it and then eventually I was like 'Hmmm…I wonder if I can do that.' And I started doing stand-up in 2011. Then I studied theater, while I was doing my masters. And then I came back to Saudi Arabia and worked in a company called Telfaz 11 where I was Head of Content there and then I left to do the movie. Now I'm doing TV shows so trying to stay busy.Moustafa: Ok. So in a way you do have bits and pieces of passion. It’s not one clear thing.Hisham: Yeah, yeah. I think especially because our world of production and making visual content is such a strenuous, exhausting thing a lot of times I need to just change. I need to be like 'Ok, I'm not acting now, I'm just writing.' or 'Ok, I will not write anymore. I'm just gonna produce'. You know, wearing those hats gives me a chance to breathe, gives me a chance to sort of contain myself and compose myself and recharge my batteries.Moustafa: Well, it's beautiful and probably easier said than done because being an artist and a bit of extroverted artist like yourself in a country like Saudi Arabia must be challenging. How do you keep the passion?Hisham: I mean, I would get caught up in little petty things like the nature of social bureaucracy and the lack of institutions really hurt us. So I hope that when people see that there is a lot of talent, there will be support from the people upstairs to give us institutions, we really need that and once we have that, my life will be so much easier.Moustafa: Ok. When the times that your life is not as easy, how do you find passion in those moments?Hisham: Because creating, like the act of creating itself, the creative juices flowing and building – when you build something with someone – there is such a magical feeling, you know and I'm addicted to the process too. It's not just the product. I'll admit it – when we first started, I was 'I want the finish product' and now it's the process, the little things. You know, even the pre-production, the brainstorming phase. These things are really exciting because you get to talk about details and concepts and, I don't know, it makes me happy.Moustafa: I like that. So basically, looking at the little details to stay passionate.Hisham: Right!Moustafa: Thank you very much! This has been an awesome interview!Hisham: I appreciate it! Thank you!Moustafa: Thank you!Hisham: Also!Moustafa and Hisham: Passion!Moustafa: What do you think? I hope you found this interview as useful as I did, If so , leave your comments on the blog below and do share it with your friends. And if you'd like more tools, tips, techniques and exclusive interviews that I only share on my website, go to Moustafa.com. And until next episode, live passionately!